Sugar Rush Stories
by sjosten
Summary: What happens when Tobicomi releases Sugar Rush 2? Cavities mostly, but also a few more exciting (and healthy) things. After all, when the characters in a videogame are alive, every day is an adventure.
1. Chapter 1

"Twas the night before Monday, and all through the arcade, not a creature was stirring, not even a… what rhymes with arcade?"

"Why are you narrating this? We're trying to be subtle."

"Is that why you're wearing a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup hat?"

"At least I picked a dude character."

"Shut up."

"Fine. I need to reprogram this anyway."

"Jerk… Not a creature was stirring, not even a Cy-Bug Egg. Two hackers with skills that were totally leet snuck in through the window to make a prank sweet. By opening tomorrow, Sugar Rush will be glitchy. Princess Vanellope will seem much less"

"Okay, I did it."

"Sweet, you got Vanellope to teleport and everything?"

"Right down to the hoodie and the candy in her hair."

"Alright, let's get out of here. This cherry helmet is starting to get irritating."

"Sure, but we have to get here early so we can actually play as the new and improved Vanellope von Schweetz."

This video surveillance recording was one of the first proven instances of the code for Sugar Rush being changed. After reports came in of a certain version of this game that featured a teleporting, grungy looking Princess von Schweetz, fans began altering games across the country. Some, like the two hooligans recorded above, did so without clearance. However, most of the games changed by unknown hackers were later celebrated by the arcade owners who intended to hire someone to do the same thing. No matter how the game was changed, almost every Sugar Rush that could be accessed was revised to have this new Vanellope. After several months, the company that had made Sugar Rush fifteen short years ago took notice of the phenomenon.

In early 2013, a new game was announced. This one, Sugar Rush 2, would feature powers for all of the characters. It would have updated graphics, a console version, and have online co-op capabilities. Fans didn't care about any of that. They were too busy rejoicing about the replacement of Princess von Schweetz with Vanellope. In essence, they were the same. In spirit however, players felt they were polar opposites.

Princess von Schweetz was the mascot for the game. This was unfortunate, because most of the people who played the game were convinced that she was on a level of hatred usually reserved for Jar Jar Binks and Michael Bay. Her cart was overpowered, her lines were grating, her theme was a mockery of a character that only existed so that little girls could play as her. As far as the fans were concerned, the princess was scum. Vanellope though, she was a pillar of light. She had power, she had charisma, she had a bubbly personality, her cart was balanced with a focus on speed and a lack of control. Even better, they had thought of all of this. Granted, the design and powers for the character had come from that one arcade, but everything else was fanon.

In the space of the first weeks, there were dozens of stories about Vanellope online. In the first month, there was fan-made merchandise. By the time the game was announced, Vanellope had become memetic. Her followers were dubbed Sugar Vans, and had become bigger than almost any fanbase online. These fans had dreamt up families, relationships, histories, and even the mechanics of her cart. With the growth of the fandom reaching exponential levels, there was only one thing left to do. That thing was Sugar Rush 2. On the day that fans referred to as the Rush Revolution, the sequel to the classic racing game went on the market. It was sold out in the first two minutes.

There would be thousands of games sold, but this tale is of one in particular. The owner is unimportant, as is the time it took to sell. In fact, very little of the tale itself "matters." Still, it is a story worth being heard, and one worth telling.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ah, I love the smell of X-Box in the morning." Vanellope said as she stepped into her game.

"How would you know? We only just got booted up." Taffyta pointed out, walking up next to Vanellope.

"Well I smell it now." Vanellope argued.

"Oh yeah? What's it smell like?" Taffyta challenged.

"Girls, you gotta relax. We just got here, it's time to take a look around. Right man?" Swizzle said.

"Yeah, whatever. Someone get me a mirror, I wanna see how the new graphics make me look." Rancis said, trying to find something reflective.

"Oh my gosh, this is so cool! I can't wait to see all the new tracks!" Adorabreezle said as she ran around examining everything.

"Yep, looks like everything's going just great." Vanellope said.

"Everything is going just horribly." Minty Zaki was still sitting outside the game, lamenting to her friend Suzy Sourapple.

"C'mon Minty, it'll be fine." Suzy said.

"Maybe for you guys, but I'm just the joke character. I'm based on ice cream, but I've got a big fire strapped to my head." Minty said.

"Don't be so negative. It's a new game, a fresh start, everything we need to turn life around. Maybe you'll be one of the Lethal Joke Characters." Suzy suggested.

"Lethal? I can barely even race. My car always has low speed, it's big and clunky, and I look like I was doused in green paint." Minty said.

"I don't see what's wrong with green. You know what though? I have an idea." Suzy said as she walked over to her luggage. She pulled out a bright pink jacket and tossed it over to Minty.

"That was supposed to be Jazz Apple Red, but it fell in a pool of frosting. Now you at least won't be all green." Suzy said.

"Thanks. Listen, I'm sorry that you had to listen to this." Minty said as she pulled off her old mint green jacket and replaced it with the pink one.

"What are friends for? You look great by the way." Suzy said.

"Yeah, I do. I guess it doesn't really fit with the mint theme though." Minty said.

"Ditch it then." Suzy said.

"What? I can't. Minty Zaki was advertised all over the place." Minty said.

"Suzy Sourapple wasn't." Suzy said.

"What are you saying?" Minty asked.

"I'll be Minty so the fans are happy, and you can be somebody else." Suzy suggested.

"That's crazy!" Minty said.

"Good point. You need a new name and theme." Suzy said.

"No, I mean… do you really think it would work?" Minty asked.

"Absolutely. We're geniuses, I'm sure we can think of something." Suzy said.

"Mint's pretty much all I've got though." Minty said.

"You have a candle." Suzy said.

"And what am I supposed to do with a candle on my head?" Minty asked

"You could call yourself Candlehead." Suzy said.

"You aren't feeling very original today are you?" Minty asked.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll think of something. And if not, we can fall back on Candlehead." Suzy said, walking into the game.

"Oh right, because I'd walk around calling myself Candlehead." Minty said, running after her friend.

Within an hour, the character files detected an error. Apparently, the names of Minty Zaki and Suzy Sourapple had been changed. The game corrected itself to acknowledge the new Minty Zaki and the strangely named Candlehead.


	3. Chapter 3

As far as the racers were concerned, Sugar Rush 2 had everything. New tracks, new looks, new starts, new powers, new cars… alright, they might not have liked that last one.

"What do you mean we have to redesign?" Gloyd asked.

"I mean we didn't bring cars with us, so we need to make some." Taffyta said, walking with the other racers toward the Kart Maker factory.

"But I have a car. The Kernel is literally parked outside the game." Gloyd said.

"Actually, it got towed." Adorabreezle pointed out.

"You guys just told me this now?" Gloyd asked, so shocked it put stress on his files' abilities to convey said emotion.

"Wow. Guys, we're here." Vanellope said.

Standing before them was the factory. It was a tall building with huge cotton candy cone stacks that spewed rainbow colored smoke. The forest seemed to creep away from the place, every tree leaning away. So, as it was the only logical thing to do with the imposing, environment hating, creepy as all get out building, the racers went inside. It was pitch black with a single red button in the middle. Vanellope was the first one to walk up to the button, pressing it gently with her foot. When this didn't work, Vanellope started tapping it harder until she ended up jumping up and down on the button and banging on it. This seemed to work.

A circle of lights appeared, eleven in total. Each one was a square with a picture of a car on it, one for each racer. Vanellope walked over to her car, an asymmetrical little thing with the name "The Ralph" floating above it. She touched the square, causing it to disappear and open the wall behind it. As the racers crowded around, they saw a bright room with many large contraptions against the wall.

"Welcome to the bakery! You have one minute to win it!" An electronic voice said, "Put the ingredients in the bowl and throw away the trash!"

The racers sprinted to the first console, attempting to balance the scales and push the right ingredients into the mixing bowl. It took a few moments, but they somehow managed to get most of the flour, milk, and eggs into the bowl with only a few old boots thrown in. The bowl was mixed into a batter and moved into a giant oven.

"Pump up the heat and hold the perfect temperature!" The voice instructed.

Vanellope teleported onto the pump and started hopping on it. Once she was joined by Rancis and Snowanna, this worked well enough to heat the batter correctly. The batter had been molded into a car's shape, but was still plain yellow. It moved along the conveyor belt to an assortment of vials on the wall.

"Decorate the car!" The voice said.

Swizzle was there first this time, and was already shooting down four wheels for Vanellope's car. When the rest got over to him, there were five seconds on the clock.

"Okay, new plan." Gloyd said as he picked up Candlehead.

"What are you doing?" Candlehead asked as she was pushed into the launcher.

"Fire!" Gloyd commanded. In the last second, Candlehead was hurled into the vials of frosting, knocking them all down onto the car. She and the car were pulled along by the conveyor belt as a loud buzz noise erupted through the building.

"Time's up! Congratulations, you did it! Here's your car!" The voice said as a garage door opened up at the end of the conveyor belt. A wave of toppings and sugar spewed out, along with Vanellope's car, absolutely perfect, and Candlehead, face down in the driver's seat.

"I think you put out my candle." Candlehead said as she climbed out of the car. The other sat in stunned silence.

"How did you do that?" Minty asked.

"What can I say? I'm a natural." Gloyd said. Vanellope was already starting her car and hugging the steering wheel.

"This is awesome!" She declared. Rancis walked over to her with a bag of red icing. Vanellope grabbed it and leapt out of her seat to scrawl "Ralph" on the side of her car.

"Why is it called the Ralph anyway?" Taffyta asked as she climbed onto the back of Vanellope's car.

"We may never know." Vanellope said. The others had piled on next to Taffytam and Vanellope cruised back to the first room. There were a whole ten more cars to build.

The other cars were assembled the same way, right down to firing Candlehead into the frosting. By the fifth time, they had enough gotten good enough that they really didn't need to, but even Candlehead admitted it was pretty funny.


	4. Chapter 4

Gloyd Orangeboar was many things. He was a prankster, a racer, a thinker, a winner, and occasionally a fool. Most of all though, he was proud. Proud of his skills, proud of his looks, proud of his speed, Gloyd was convinced that he was the greatest racer ever. Of course, that was all due to his prized car, the Kernel.

"And when you rev the engine, she purrs like a kitten." Gloyd bragged as he, Swizzle, and Snowanna walked down to the race track.

"Whatever you say dude." Swizzle said, laid back as ever. The boys' companion wasn't quite as pleased with listening to Gloyd.

"You've told us about the engine twenty times! Would you shut up about it?" She asked.

"I would, but she's too great to not talk about." Gloyd said.

"Great? I could outrace that hunk of junk any day." Snowanna said.

"You wanna bet?" Gloyd asked.

"Dudes, mellow out. This isn't worth it." Swizzle said.

"You know what Gloyd? I do. My Fro Cone against your Kernel. We'll see who's really fastest." Snowanna challenged.

"You're on. We'll settle this right now. You're gonna be deader than disco." Gloyd said as he took off running for the track. Snowanna followed him. Swizzle took this as an opportunity to find the other racers and warn them about the two giant egos that were about to clash on the race track.

"Are you ready?" Vanellope shouted. She was so excited, standing there with a checkered flag, that she was very close to teleporting around the place out of sheer anticipation. Snowanna and Gloyd were sitting in their cars in front of her, waiting for her to give the signal. Once that flag so much as quivered, they would both be tearing down the track. With a smile almost bigger than her head, Vanellope waved her flag, sending the racers careening down the road.

Gloyd was able to take the lead first, however slightly. With Snowanna on his tale, Gloyd was looking for a way to lose the afro haired racer. As he rounded a corner, Gloyd saw his chance. Up ahead was a field full of gumballs. Gloyd revved up and sped right into one. This sent it flying into another gumball, creating a domino effect that sent all the gumballs into motion. Gloyd was barely able to avoid getting crushed, losing his spoiler in the process. Snowanna was able to maneuver her little car along the track with little resistance, catching up to Gloyd quickly.

As they exited the field, the two racers were very close to their objective, a giant gumball machine. Both of them sped along, but Gloyd wasn't out of ideas yet. It was time for him to use his new power. Once he was able to get up next to Snowanna, Gloyd deployed his ability. Dozens of candy corn tacks shot out into Snowanna's car, stopping her in her tracks.

"Woohoo! Caltrops for the win disco dork!" Gloyd taunted. He drove into the opening at the foot of the gumball machine. Once he was inside, Gloyd realized that this might be more difficult than he anticipated. The track split, twisted, rose, fell, and every other trick that could be used to make Gloyd's driving more difficult. He could already hear Snowanna getting back into the race, her radio blaring… was that Moves Like Jagger? Who listens to Moves Like Jagger? Snowanna deserved to go down hard for that alone, if nothing else. Gloyd sped onto one of the narrow ramps that led to the top of the gumball machine.

Snowanna and Gloyd were on separate ramps at this point, each one pushing their abilities to the limits. With these ramps, losing control wasn't an option. However, neither was slowing down. Their tracks joined up ahead, and both racers accelerated to get there first. When they had almost made it, Snowanna used her special power. Two wing-like popsicle sticks popped out of the Fro Cone, with one headed straight for the Kernel. Gloyd was knocked off the edge, and started hurtling toward the ground. Gloyd jumped out of his car onto the track, but the Kernel sank to the ground, smashing to bits. Right when Gloyd started concocting a eulogy for his beloved car, it regenerated next to him. Silently thanking God that he was in a videogame, Gloyd got into his car and sped along the track. There was no chance he would win, but he would go down fighting.

At the top, Snowanna had already won. She was dancing around in the huge jar that was the top of the gumball machine. Gloyd crossed the finish line and walked up to his competitor.

"So, you won." He sighed.

"You better believe it! Your car isn't so hot now is it?" Snowanna said.

"Oh no, you're totally 'funky fresh.' Of course, you must know this isn't the end." Gloyd said with a smirk.

"Whatchyou talking about?" Snowanna asked.

"What, you thought I would take this lying down? Oh no, you're getting pranked. Pranked hard." Gloyd said.

"Yeah right, cause you can get the drop on me. Catch you on the flip-side brother." Snowanna said before driving off. Gloyd simply stood there with an evil looking grin.

The next day, Snowanna woke up to see that her yard had been flooded with over a hundred pink flamingos. Each one had been customized with candy corn fangs. Jubileena was standing outside, apparently trying to stare down one of the flamingos.

"Hey Snowanna, some flamingos invaded your lawn." Jubileena said, still staring at the pink lump of plastic.

"That little chees weasel. He wrecked my crib!" Snowanna shrieked. Jubileena finally broke eye contact with the plastic bird and ran up to Snowanna.

"Don't worry, you can hang out at my place until these things evacuate." Jubileena said with a huge smile. It was too hard for Snowanna to turn her down.

"That sounds… fauncy." Snowanna said.

"Yeah, my place is pretty fancy. C'mon, I'll show you!" Jubileena said as she grabbed Snowanna and dragged her off.

"No, I said fauncy. It means… forget it, show me your crib." Snowanna said. At least Gloyd wouldn't think to prank Jubileena's house.


	5. Chapter 5

Taffyta couldn't think straight. Somehow, she had gone from thinking about the next race to sitting in a candy cane tree. Vanellope seemed to go into them whenever she needed to think, so Taffyta took it to mean something. Now, sitting up in the top branches of the peppermint scented plant, Taffyta understood. Taffyta could see almost the whole game map from up there. The ice cream cone mountains, the cotton candy clouds, even the vanilla frosting castle, it all made for a beautiful view.

Of course, the view had to be earned. Getting up into the tree was incredibly difficult, especially since a good chunk of the branches were double striped. Taffyta hated double stripes. They were awful when they were on a tree, they were awful when they were part of a road, they were awful when someone tried to build something out of them, there were no good uses for them. And of course, Taffyta had almost plummeted fifty feet because of them. Whatever developer decided that the second to highest branch on this tree needed to be double striped deserved to be kicked to the curb, if for no other reason than it would allow Taffyta to run the loser over.

Then again, there were a few people that Taffyta actually did have a chance at running over. At the top of the list today was Crumbelina. The snooty little rich girl had been tearing up the track all day. For some reason, she was the one the players chose to use as avatar, so she was the one who obliterated everyone else. Sure Taffyta was able to pull out a win on a few laps, but she still only came in second place overall at best.

The worst part was, Crumbelina was so relaxed about it all. Usually, she was serious and stern, taking no nonsense and getting to the point. During races though, Crumbelina seemed to completely mellow out. At least if she was always like that the way Swizzle was, it would just be her personality. The way it was though, Crumbelina's cool collection felt like some kind of subconscious gloating.

In fact, Taffyta could see that jerk's huge estate from the tree. There was Crumeblina's perfect little car, parked in her perfect little driveway, with her perfect little hat in the cockpit. Wait, the hat just shook. It was hard to tell from up in the tree, but the hat definitely seemed to be moving. Taffyta watched it for several minutes, and was absolutely positive that Crumbelina was sitting in her car doing… something. This warranted a closer look.

Taffyta jumped down from the tree and into the plush seat of her car. It was a good thing her aim was good or that would have hurt. Shaking the thought from her mind, Taffyta took off for the Caramello estate. The drive over didn't take too long, though having a racecar probably helped. For Taffyta though, it seemed to drag on forever. She had so many questions that she couldn't think of just one. What was going on? Was Crumbelina really in her car? If not, why did she leave her hat in the car? Why did Taffyta care? Did this have to do with winning the races today? What exactly would Taffyta say once she got there? That last question gave Taffyta pause. What would she say? She was going over more for curiosity's sake than anything else. She didn't even know what was going on. Before Taffyta could think of a reason to abandon going to Crumbelina, she had arrived.

Taffyta pulled into the long driveway and walked up to Crumbelina's car. Taffyta had been right, Crumbelina was sitting in her car, curled up in a little ball. Taffyta could hear faint sniffling coming from her fellow racer.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Taffyta asked. Crumbelina looked up and Taffyta saw what was going on. Crumbelina's eyes were red, her makeup was smeared, and she looked disheveled. Crumbelina had been crying.

"What do you want?" Crumbelina asked in a mix of sorrow and anger.

"I wanna know what you're doing. I thought I made that obvious." Taffyta said.

"Go away." Crumbelina instructed as she turned away from the pink racer.

"Yeah, good luck with that. Why are you upset? I thought you'd be happy about winning." Taffyta said.

"I don't want to talk to you." Crumbelina said.

"Why not?" Taffyta asked.

"Because you hate me!" Crumbelina shouted, turning back to face Taffyta, "I try and I try to get you guys to like me, but the closest I get is Candlehead and Jubileena, and they already like everybody."

"Oh come on, I don't hate you." Taffyta said.

"Oh yeah? Name one time you did something nice for me." Crumbelina challenged, her voice starting to falter. Taffyta simply stood there, trying to think of something.

"That's what I thought." Crumbelina said before sinking back into her car.

"But I don't hate you. I just… I mean, we aren't best friends, but it doesn't mean… I guess, I guess I messed up huh?" Taffyta sighed.

"Yes. You did." Crumbelina said. Taffyta walked over to sit down on the edge of Crumbelina's car. They both sat in silence for a long while. Eventually, Taffyta broke the silence.

"Do you feel any better?" She asked.

"A little bit." Crumbelina said.

"Good, because I think I figured out how I want to make it up to you." Taffyta said before jumping up and running to her car, "Follow me."

Crumbelina was surprised. Not so surprised that she didn't follow, but still surprised. Taffyta jumped into her own car and led Crumbelina far out, away from the estate. Thankfully, it was a quick drive to their destination. For some reason, Taffyta had driven out into the middle of the candy cane forest. Then she did something even stranger. She started climbing it.

Some views need to be earned. Seeing the sun set behind a giant ice cream cone mountain was one of those views. Crumbelina's look of absolute wonder as she sat next to Taffyta in a candy cane tree was even more one of them. Taffyta watched her fellow racer stare at the beautiful sky and couldn't help but feel happy. After all, this was a girl that had spent the better part of an hour crying her eyes out before getting to see this.

"So, do you still think I hate you?" Taffyta asked. It was unusual for her, but Taffyta was completely sincere. It was almost as alarming for Crumbelina as the cake themed racers action was for Taffyta. Before she could get an answer, Taffyta was wrapped in a hug by her new friend.

"Thanks Taffyta." Crumbelina said.

With all of the events that had happened that day, between the racing, hate, attempts of redemption, and now this, Taffyta couldn't even think straight.


	6. Chapter 6

Minty Zaki was a bit overzealous in her desire to win. This was best displayed in her vehicle. It was light as air, making it very fast, but absolute murder to try to steer. This led to such things as Minty being miles ahead of everyone else, but crashing into every wall in sight. Minty was used to bumping into walls though. What she wasn't used to was flying.

She wasn't sure who had put down the sticky slick, but Minty did know it would completely throw her off her game. Back when she was still on the ground, Minty didn't know that would be literal. Perhaps activating Sugar Rush a mere moment before rounding the bend into the tar-like mess wasn't very good planning, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now though, it didn't seem so great.

Unfortunately, Sugar Rush had a firm grasp on this 'physics' business, meaning that a hundred or more miles per hour coupled with a sudden stop made for a little thing called inertia. That little thing had launched Minty into the air at tremendous speeds. With a high pitched scream, Minty took off, drawing a confused look from Candlehead and Adorabreezle, who both happened to be in the area. That was twenty minutes ago.

At this point, Minty was mostly bored. Yeah, being unable to do literally anything except look at stuff for twenty minutes will do that to you. At least the view was nice. She could see the forests, the castle, the mountains, and even a little dot coming right at her. Hang on, something didn't seem right about that.

Elsewhere, a diet cola volcano to be exact, Candlehead and Adorabreezle were trying to put their plan into motion.

"What is it you guys find so fascinating about shooting me at stuff?" Candlehead asked as she drifted out into the middle of the molten soda.

"Don't be like that. We need to rescue Minty, and my aim is better than yours. Plus, I was the one who talked Jubileena into giving us a parachute." Adorabreezle said. She was throwing rocks up at the Mentos stalactites, trying to knock a few loose.

"Your aim isn't better than mine! In fact, mine is… um, Adorabreezle? There isn't a whole at the top of the" Candlehead was cut off as Adorabreezle succeeded in hitting some Mentos hard enough to knock it down. This shot Candlehead into the wall, sending the platform she had been on straight up. As Candlehead scrambled to get a new chunk of wafer cookie to float out on, an entire column of Mentos fell.

Candlehead jumped into the cola just in time to be shot up into the roof. Sadly, her aim wasn't as good as she had hoped, and Candlehead face-planted into a stalactite. Now this one broke free. All of this seemed to set off a chain reaction that eventually knocked all of the Mentos free. Every. Last. One. Adorabreezle was able to run off. Candlehead wasn't so lucky. The fire topped racer catapulted into the air. Fortunately, the Diet Cola was already mostly flat, and the eruption didn't cause as much damage as it could have. Of course, that didn't mean Candlehead wasn't moving so fast she thought her face would peel off.

Yep, the dot was getting closer. Minty wasn't going fast enough anymore to avoid the thing, and would have to take it full force. Maybe it was something soft, like a marshmallow. Maybe it was a reverse shooting star. Maybe it was… nope, Minty could see it now. It was Candlehead. As soon as she registered what was being launched at her, Minty was knocked upward by the other racer.

"Hi." Candlehead said as the two continued to sail higher.

"What are you doing?" Minty asked.

"Rescuing you." Candlehead said with a smile.

"How are we supposed to get down?" Minty asked.

"I brought a parachute!" Candlehead said triumphantly.

"Candles, that isn't going to help us stop going up." Minty said. Before Candlehead could reply, the two went right through a cotton candy cloud.

"Ooh, that tasted great!" Candlehead said.

"We're going to suffocate and die in the cold vacuum of space." Minty said as she looked up. They were heading straight for the stars now.

"Oh, don't be so pessimistic. We get to be the first Sugar Rush astronauts!" Candlehead said.

"I appreciate the optimism, but that isn't exactly worth death." Minty said.

"Pssh, who cares? We'll just respawn." Candlehead said. Just then, they connected with something very solid. They had gone so far up that they hit the upper barrier for the game. Then, they fell.

"Oh my gosh, this is actually worse!" Minty screamed as she clung to Candlehead.

"Relax, I have a parachute." Candlehead pointed out.

"Deploy it!" Minty demanded.

"Are you serious? It'll take us hours to get down if I deploy it now." Candlehead said.

"Yeah well… I don't have a choice do I?" Minty asked.

"Nope. Hey, have you ever gone this fast on the track?" Candlehead asked.

"No! I have never driven at a thousand miles per hour, especially straight down!" Minty yelled.

"We aren't going that fast. We're actually going at about five hundred seventy meters per second. Assuming, that is, that my calculations about the rate of acceleration due to gravity are correct." Candlehead said.

"Candles, you never went to school! You don't know the gravity rate accelerator!" Minty said, managing to completely mangle physics terms even more than Candlehead mangled their speed.

"Hey, is that your car?" Candlehead asked, looking down.

"Huh. Yes, that's my… oh my gosh! We're only like fifty feet up! Deploy the chute!" Minty shouted. Candlehead followed the instruction this time. The pair drifted slowly to the ground after that. Minty immediately fell to the ground and started trying to hug the racetrack.

"I'm alive! Oh sweet mother of milk-balls, I'm alive!" Minty cheered.

"You're welcome. Hey, do you know how to put a parachute back in its backpack?" Candlehead asked.

"No, I don't." Minty said.

"Huh. Oh well, you up for some cookies?" Candlehead asked, slipping off the backpack.

"I just got shot out of my car, then had you thrown into me, then fell from freaking space!" Minty shouted.

"Is that a yes?" Candlehead asked.

"Of course it's a yes, let's go." Minty said, suddenly calm again. Fortunately for the racers, that was the end of the excitement for that day. Until Candlehead realized that her candle had gone out in the volcano's eruption that is.


	7. Chapter 7

Everyone had secrets in life. Swizzle Malarkey was no exception. Despite his cool exterior and aloof nature, there were things he didn't want the other racers to know. He still considered it to be just going with the flow though. After all, it's not like the others weren't hiding things. It's human. No reason to get upset about it.

So, when Swizzle finished up a long day of racing, he resigned himself to his basement/entertainment center so he could partake in one of those secrets. Unfortunately, that's when someone came to the door. When Swizzle went up, that person was revealed to be Gloyd.

"Hey Swizz, I'm gonna get Taffyta back for ramming into me earlier, you in?" He asked.

"Dude have I ever helped you prank someone?" Swizzle asked. The answer was of course: no.

"Fine. Hey, if you don't wanna do that, I heard Rancis was going out to watch the guys from Marvel vs. Capcom practice. He said we could tag along." Gloyd said.

"Ooh, tempting. I think I'm gonna pass though. Dante freaks me out." Swizzle replied.

"Oh well, see you around." Gloyd said before walking off. Swizzle made it as far as the staircase before there was another knock at the door.

"Forget something Gloyd?" Swizzle asked as he opened the door.

"What?" Minty asked, "Never mind. Have you seen Candlehead's lighter?"

"Um, no." Swizzle said.

"Figures. Listen, if you see it, please tell her. She's freaking out about it, and that just makes her judgment even worse. She almost followed Jubileena around trying to find the thing. Jubileena." Minty said.

"I'll keep an eye out." Swizzle said before closing the door. He walked downstairs and settled into his giant gumdrop beanbag chair. Just then, there was another knock. Swizzle trudged back upstairs to see who it was.

"Swizzle, I just got an invitation to dinner from Vanellope. You know Gloyd, is this a prank or is it legit?" Taffyta asked.

"He me to help him prank you, so I don't think he's done it yet. Still, maybe you should talk to Vanellope beforehand, just in case." Swizzle said.

"Thanks." Taffyta said as she walked back to her car.

Swizzle closed the door and walked back downstairs. Surely, that would be the end of the interruptions. Who else could possibly come over? Swizzle would find the answer to that question, since someone was banging on his door.

"Yeah?" Swizzle asked once he got back to the door.

"Whoa, you look ticked off. I was walking by and saw your car. I think it's leaking oil or something." Jubileena said. Sure enough, when Swizzle looked outside, his car had a small puddle of oil under it.

"How did that happen?" He asked, running to his car.

"Well, I shot the bottom of your car with a sweet seeker earlier, so maybe it's that." Jubileena said.

"Yeah, about that, why did you shoot me after Adorabreezle already flipped me onto my car's nose?" Swizzle asked.

"There's no kill like overkill." Jubileena said as she started to walk off. After fixing his car, Swizzle walked back inside. He turned to look, and no one was there. Thinking he was done for the day, Swizzle closed the door. Immediately, there was a loud pop outside accompanied by a knock on the door. Opening it, Swizzle saw Vanellope.

"How's it going?" She asked.

"Vanellope, what do you want?" Swizzle asked.

"What's your deal? You're all angry?" Vanellope asked.

"It's been a rough day." Swizzle sighed.

"Hard to hear. I just wanted to ask if you knew why Taffyta just asked me out to dinner. Did Gloyd put her up to something?" Vanellope asked.

"Taffyta got an invitation from you asking her to dinner. She talked to me earlier and I said… wait, she didn't tell you this?" Swizzle asked.

"Well, I kind of sort of almost a little bit but not really ran away when she asked me out." Vanellope admitted.

"You should go back." Swizzle said.

"K." Vanellope said, teleporting off. Swizzle slammed the door shut. That was it, the next person to come to the door was getting a verbal smackdown. Go with the flow could eat dust, because Swizzle was mad. Sure enough, there was another knock before long. Swizzle opened up the door violently to be greeted by Candlehead.

"Have you seen my lighter?" Candlehead asked, grabbing Swizzle by the shoulders. The little makeup she had was running and her clothes were disheveled. She had been crying.

"I … No, I haven't." Swizzle said, his rage completely destroyed by the pitiable girl.

"I need my lighter! How am I gonna keep my candle lit? What do I do if it goes out?" Candlehead asked, shaking Swizzle.

"You could go dip it in the diet cola volcano. I'm sure that would light it." Swizzle suggested. Candlehead let go.

"I um… I kind of… blew it up." Candlehead said. Swizzle's jaw dropped.

"How do you do that?" He asked.

"With Mentos and stuff. So, will you look for my lighter?" Candlehead asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll look for your… how do you blow up a volcano?" Swizzle said, still dumbstruck.

"Thanks. Bye." Candlehead said before running off to continue searching for her lighter.

There, that was six of the ten other racers. Rancis was with Gloyd, so he wouldn't be around soon. Snowanna usually hung out with Jubileena, so if she had anything to say, Swizzle would have already heard it. Adorabreezle rarely ever did something besides exploring tracks, so she probably wouldn't be showing up. Swizzle was free.

He ran downstairs, jumping into his beanbag chair, and grabbed the remote. Swizzle laid back and switched on his TV. After a bit of flipping channels, Swizzle finally arrived on the one he cared about, the one that housed his little secret. The soundtrack blared as Swizzle cranked up the volume.

"Becoming as popular as popular can be; making my mark, making my mark in high society; I'm the belle of the ball, the star of the show, yeah; I'm the type of pony everypony, everypony should know;"

Swizzle relaxed a bit. His day was starting to get substantially better.


	8. Chapter 8

Snowanna wasn't having a good night. First, she lost the last race of the day, badly. Then, Jubileena burned dinner. How you burn a fruit salad is anyone's guess, but Jubileena had done it. Next, Snowanna's lights all went out at the same time. After all of this, Snowanna decided to just go to sleep and hope the next day would be better.

She was in a field. It was huge and open, sprinkle grass as far as the eye could see. Snowanna was there alone. She trekked for hours before finding anything. What she did find wasn't altogether pleasant. Her house was in total disrepair. Apparently, living with Jubileena for a few days had been enough to ruin a building. Snowanna walked inside cautiously. Who knew what Gloyd could have done?

She was in a maze. The entrance to the maze had slammed shut behind her. There were dozens of twisting, turning roads to go down. Snowanna walked down the one farthest to the right. After a few feet, she came to another intersection. Taking the path farthest to the right again, Snowanna went along. She went on and on in a straight line, coming to another turn after miles of walking. She turned to the right and stepped forward.

She was falling. She had tripped into a hole and was going down quickly. All around her was darkness. Not even the light from where she came in could be seen. She could hear something though. It was a hissing noise. It sounded horrible. Snowanna hit the bottom with a thump, landing right on her back. Above her was a huge spider.

She was running for her life. The spider was fast, but it couldn't catch up to Snowanna. She ran and ran, not stopping for anything. She jumped hurdles, sped around bends, and ran through brush. The spider just followed. It was able to keep pace with Snowanna, and it didn't even look like it was trying. The spider was toying with her. Then, Snowanna made it into the forest.

She was trapped. The trees surrounded her, with the only opening blocked by the gargantuan spider. Snowanna looked around in vain, trying to find a way out. There wasn't one. Snowanna fell to her knees and covered her eyes with her hands. There was no escape from this fate. The spider would eat her alive.

She was… warm? Snowanna could feel some kind of comforting heat emanating through her. It felt cozy and snug, like an old blanket. Snowanna felt safe in the warmth. She felt at ease. It was like all the troubles of the world had been lifted. Snowanna opened her eyes.

She was saved. The spider was gone, the trees had shrunk back, and she was alone again. That warmth was still there. It was the only thing there. Snowanna felt giddy. She had managed to live. She had gotten away from that awful spider! She skipped through the forest, not a care in the world. She was happy.

She was awake. Snowanna had been roused from sleep by some terrible noise. It sounded like Vanellope's car that time Swizzle got a lollipop stuck in her muffler. Rolling over, Snowanna found out what was causing the noise. Jubileena was curled up in bed next to her, snoring. Snowanna screamed in surprise, waking her friend.

"Jubileena? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"*yawn* Morning Snow." Jubileena said, still mostly asleep.

"Why were you in my bed?" Snowanna asked again.

"Well, I was going to my room last night when I saw you tossing and turning. I figured you were having a nightmare, but I heard that if you wake someone who's having a nightmare up, it'll just start again when they go back to sleep. So, since I couldn't wake you up, I thought maybe you'd feel better if you have company." Jubileena explained.

"Oh. That's… that was really nice of you." Snowanna said.

"Eh, what are friends for right?" Jubileena shrugged.

"Yeah. Hey, tell you what. How about I make us some omelets for breakfast?" Snowanna offered.

"Sweet! I want lots of ham in mine." Jubileena said, running to the kitchen.

Snowanna walked down to the kitchen to help her housemate. Maybe living with Jubileena would be better than she originally thought.


	9. Chapter 9

Vanellope had a plan. She had seen Minty Zaki and Candlehead race. Watched the guys hang out. She knew that having a friend or two could vastly improve how a racer works. So, she needed to get a close friend. There was only one problem. Most of her options were taken.

Snowanna and Jubileena were housemates, so there was no way to get close to them without intruding on their living dynamic. Minty Zaki and Candlehead were practically joined at the hip, and were friends with everyone anyway. Swizzle, Gloyd, and Rancis had their little guy thing, and Vanellope didn't really want a part of that. Taffyta and Crumbelina were… well, no one knew exactly how close they were, but it was safe to say they didn't really want someone coming into whatever it was they had. That only left two racers: Vanellope and Adorabreezle.

Adorabreezle was… different. She spent all her time exploring and looking for tracks. Rumor had it she had found an amazing track underneath the ice cream tundra. Of course, that rumor came from Gloyd, so it was probably wrong. Either way, Adorabreezle didn't spend a lot of time with other people. She only came around to the main areas of the map when she was in a race, and jetted off for some exotic place afterward.

Still, Vanellope wanted to improve, and that required work sometimes. First things first, she had to find Adorabreezle. This was no easy task, but Vanellope had her handy dandy teleportation to assist her. Rather than jump around the entire game world though, Vanellope went to the one racer who might know where Adorabreezle was. She was still wondering if it was a good idea as she walked up to the door.

"Oh, hi Vanellope! What do you need? Oh, don't tell me! Is it a pie? No, it's too early for pie. I know, you want to race! That's it right? Wait, you didn't bring your car. It must be… okay I give up, what is it?" Jubileena rambled.

"Can I talk to Snowanna?" Vanellope asked.

"Yeah sure. She just finished our omelets. Do you want one? Oh, but I wouldn't want to make Snowanna cook another one. You can have some of mine if you want. It has ham in it!" Jubileena offered.

"Nah, I'll just talk to Snowanna." Vanellope said.

"Alrighty, just give me one minute!" Jubileena said, running back into her house. A few moments later, Snowanna came to the door.

"What do you need kitty?" Snowanna asked.

"Do you know where Adorabreezle is? I wanted to talk to her." Vanellope said.

"For rizzle? Didn't know you two liked to hang. Last I heard, she went cruising around the taffy swamps." Snowanna said.

"Thanks!" Vanellope said as she teleported away.

Fortunately, the taffy swamps are pretty small. Unfortunately, they're also full of hazards. So, while Vanellope could see Adorabreezle without too much walking around, it pushed her teleportation power to the limit just to avoid falling into Nesquik sand or getting caught in the taffy waters.

"Hi Adorabreezle!" Vanellope shouted once she was within earshot of the other racer.

"Vanellope? What are you doing here?" Adorabreezle called back.

"Oh, you know, just looking around." Vanellope said.

"You could have picked a better place." Adorabreezle said. The swamp decided to prove her point, as the log Vanellope was standing on was a double striped candy cane. She teleported over to where Adorabreezle was.

"Yeah, but this place is exciting." Vanellope said.

"Can't argue with you there. That's why I know there has to be a track out here." Adorabreezle said.

"What do you mean?" Vanellope asked. In answer, Adorabreezle pulled out a map.

"See this? All of the tracks besides Sweet Ride have some kind of gimmick. Frosty Rally has the slippery ice and tunnels, Cakeway has those cherries Candlehead loves to blow up, even Gum Runner has narrow paths and that gumball obstacle course. Tracks focus on amazing things that make racing better. The cooler a place is, the better chance there is for a track to show up there." Adorabreezle explained as Vanellope looked over the map. If nothing else, today would prove Gloyd wrong about the underground track.

"But we would know if there was a track here." Vanellope said.

"Two words Vanellope: Hidden Content. I think that we just have to unlock the tracks somehow. It probably has to do with story mode, but the players haven't started it yet." Adorabreezle said.

"That actually makes a lot of sense." Vanellope said.

"Good, because I think you can help me out. How far can you teleport?" Adorabreezle asked.

"I dunno… thirty-ish feet." Vanellope guessed.

"Can you get us to the top of that tree?" Adorabreezle said, pointing at the tallest tree in the swamp.

"Sure." Vanellope said, grabbing Adorabreezle. In a matter of moments, they were balancing on the highest branch in the taffy swamps. Adorabreezle pulled something out of her coat.

"Now teleport straight up." She commanded.

"What? Are you crazy?" Vanellope asked.

"Probably. However, this parachute should keep me from dying." Adorabreezle said, holding up an obviously homemade parachute.

"You're not gonna survive this." Vanellope said, looking straight down.

"I'll regenerate." Adorabreezle said, "Now let's do it." Vanellope did as she was asked. Adorabreezle, surprisingly, managed to stay afloat. Vanellope, not wanting to chance it, teleported down to the ground. As she watched Adorabreezle hovering high above the treeline, Vanellope wondered if it was too late to just hang out with Candlehead and Minty Zaki. They were at least manageably crazy. Adorabreezle eventually got down. She was absolutely overjoyed.

"I saw it!" She said.

"Wait, really?" Vanellope asked.

"Well, sort of. There's this huge area that's obviously supposed to be a track, but there isn't a road. Still, if it's Unlockable, now we'll know where it is!" Adorabreezle cheered.

"Congratulations." Vanellope said.

"Come on, I have to see it up close." Adorabreezle said, charging through the brush. Vanellope followed. Somehow, the popsicle themed racer managed to avoid every obstacle on the way to the "racetrack."

The track was not what Vanellope expected. It was a large circular area with big puddles of taffy and a lot of trees all over the place. There wasn't even a road. Still, Adorabreezle was incredibly excited.

"Ha ha ha! I found it! It's real! It's real! I found it!" She said while dancing around.

"I helped." Vanellope pointed out.

"Huh? Oh yeah. We found it I guess. Thanks." Adorabreezle said.

"No problem. So, wanna go get our cars and test out the track?" Vanellope asked.

"It's not really a track yet, but sure. Why not?" Adorabreezle said before running off. Vanellope smiled and teleported back to her car. This whole friendship thing might just work out.


	10. Chapter 10

Crumbelina was the owner's favorite and she knew it. Well, she was one of their favorites anyway. There was usually more than one player, so there must have been multiple owners too. Of course, no one knew for certain because of the cotton candy clouds blocking any view of the screen that the racers might have had. Still, being a favorite was a nice place to be. Always used as an avatar, always winning in races, always racking up huge scores, it was the life.

It didn't really come as a surprise when the player wanted to make a car instead of using the Tira-Missile. Crumbelina loved her car, but was curious to see what the player had in store for her. So, Crumbelina took the long walk back to the cart factory. It somehow looked even gloomier than she remembered. Still, Crumbelina wasn't about to let the players down, and ran in, hopping onto the red button in the middle of the room.

The player selected Swizzle's car as a base. It normally wasn't Crumbelina's style but hey, the Swizz was fast when he wanted to be. So, Crumbelina walked into Swizzle's section of the factory and got ready to work.

"Welcome to the bakery! You have one minute to win it!" A familiar voice echoed through the room, "Stretch out the dough and mold it!"

Well, this was different. Crumbelina regretted having left right after making her own cart. She had been excited to see her mansion, and it appeared she would have to pay for it now. Still, no one ever made a car by wishing they had seen it done before, so Crumbelina got to work. She had to pull on levers to stretch out a pretzel frame that the rest of the car would be poured onto. It took quite a bit of work, about half the time she had, but Crumbelina and the player somehow managed to stretch the pretzel into a long rectangle.

"Pump up the heat and hold the perfect temperature!" The voice called out.

Well, at least this one was the same. With some button mashing on the part of the player, but the oven cooked fairly quickly. When the car rolled out onto the conveyor belt, it looked like a brown box with a little section carved out. Crumbelina ran over to the next station as the announcer's voice came on again.

"Decorate your car!" The player didn't seem to need the prompt, already blasting away.

First came four Oreo wheels, followed by a thin layer of black frosting. Crumbelina had no idea that results could come from actual accuracy and not just launching a certain fiery headed racer into a wall in this part of the mini-game. The car had almost finished travelling down the conveyor belt when the player knocked down a sugary windshield onto what Crumbelina thought was the rear section of the car.

"Time's up! Congratulations! Here's your car!" The voice blared as a loud buzz rang through the room. The car rolled out of the garage door-like exit and Crumbelina saw what the player's plan had been.

Sitting before her, keys in the ignition and everything, was a stretch limousine. It was long and smooth with soft jet black icing that streaked along the car. Somehow, the sides were even raised and brought up into a roof, making it look like a real limo. The only way you could tell the difference from outside was the fact that the license plate was a chunk of Hershey's and the hood ornament was an M&M. Of course, if you actually went up to the car, you would see that it wasn't hollow, and the back seating was in fact, solid dark chocolate. Crumbelina opened up the door and climbed hesitantly into the car. She looked up to see the player inputting a name for the car's save file. "Luxury Di Caramello" it was titled. Crumbelina felt a surge of pride. This beautiful work of art was hers. She jumped up and down, hopping about like Vanellope. At this point, she didn't care if the player saw her acting like a little girl. Heck, the other racers could come in and she wouldn't care. She was too happy. Somehow, as she danced around her new car, Crumbelina felt that the player enjoyed it too. After a few more moments of being overjoyed, Crumbelina leapt back into her car. It was time to test out the Luxury.

Crumbelina started up her car. It purred like a kitten. It was a beautiful sound that nearly made Crumbelina melt. She slowly rolled out of the factory and drove around it a few times. Then she saw the road. She sped down it and turned sharply, heading for the nearest track. She could feel the player going through the menu, finding the perfect place to test his creation. Crumbelina turned again, heading straight for the castle. It was the perfect spot.

She sat at the starting line, aching with temptation. Foot on the gas, helmet on, countdown above, it couldn't start fast enough. When the hovering words finally changed to 'Go' Crumbelina rocketed down the lane, shifting in between various piles of rubble. The Luxury was quick, and it handled beautifully. Crumbelina felt as if she had achieved Nirvana driving that car. She was in perfect balance, at peace but aware, thinking slowly but moving quickly, not afraid to falter but too determined for it to even be a possibility. As Crumbelina slowed down at the finish line, the whole track feeling like a blur, she looked up to the sky. There was a small fissure in the ceiling, letting in a few beams of light. Crumbelina stared into it and mouthed 'Thank you.' She knew she couldn't see who it was that liked her so much, but she knew now more than ever: she was the favorite, and that was a wonderful place to be.


	11. Chapter 11

Few people can claim to have mastered the art of people watching. Jubileena felt she was one of them. She saw her fellow racers moving about their daily agendas, each on his own, and thought she could put together what they were feeling. It was an inexact science, but Jubileena didn't much care for science anyway.

She saw Minty and Candlehead driving down to the factory. Minty's car had needed a tune-up ever since a crash the other day, but the green racer was in denial. The look of abject misery on her face was clue enough. On top of that, it wasn't as if her problem could be her company. Minty and Candlehead had been best friends since the day the game was installed. It was practically etched into their very code. They had saved each other's rears more time than Jubileena thought possible, considering the fact that the game had only been plugged in for about a week.

A ways away from the duo were Taffyta and Crumbelina having a picnic. Those two were something else. Everyone knew the two of them had gotten to be very close very fast, but no one knew just how close. Jubileena was tempted to say that even the girls in question didn't know. After all, they were just kids as well. They didn't really understand too much beyond what they were given. Still, there was something peculiar about them.

Of course, no discussion of peculiar could be complete without mentioning a certain teleporting, hoodie wearing racer that was tagging along with Adorabreezle. Somehow, the girl had gotten into her head that she needed a partner of some kind in order to fit into the dynamic the other racers all had, and chose Adorabreezle to buddy up with. The icy racer herself looked like she didn't much care for the newfound friendship. Adorabreezle was a loner. She had spent most of her very brief life going wherever she wanted whenever she wanted and not caring about who looked at her funny for it. Now, she had Vanellope around, constantly asking questions and making sarcastic comments. Jubileena was sure that those two hanging out would cause at least one of them to mature.

Out of the corner of her eye, Jubileena could see the three guys of Sugar Rush sneaking off to go hang out in some other game. Those three seemed to just love watching the fighting games practice. There was something about their eagerness that was both wholly innocent and evil at the same time. Gloyd in particular had an air of oddness to him. His friends were easy to figure out. Rancis was socially awkward and that manifested as vanity, and occasionally some lewdness. Swizzle was even easier, since he flat out told everyone what he thought. He was like a constant neutrality to everything else, just letting things stand where they were. He made it obvious that he was hiding something, but also that he didn't deem it important enough to fuss over. Gloyd though, he was a mystery.

Jubileena prided herself on her ability to figure people out, but she didn't understand Gloyd. He seemed to be motivated by two things: pride and vengeance. He wasn't very proud, not of himself anyway. Insult his precious car though, and you will be sorry. He sought out revenge for anything that he felt was a slight to him. Granted, his retribution was generally proportionate, but it still felt odd. Many of the racers were quick to say that he was just a jerk who couldn't stand having his ego bruised, but Jubileena felt like there was more. People didn't really act like that. There was always something more, something behind all the rest. She knew she would eventually figure it out. Jubileena's thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of her housemate.

"Hey girl, how's it going?" Snowanna asked, sitting down next to the cherry themed racer.

"Great! The weather is just fantastic! I can practically feel the sun smiling at me." Jubileena said.

"Cool. So, what's going on out here?" Snowanna asked, gesturing to the field where the other racers were all entertaining themselves.

"Oh, a lot of things." Jubileena said as she took a drink.

"Sounds pretty dull. Hey, you wanna watch a movie?" Snowanna offered.

"What movie are you thinking of?" Jubileena asked.

"I've got the Godfather, Rocky, and Jaws all back at my place." Snowanna said. Jubileena was running down the white chocolate paved road by the time her friend had said Godfather.

"Whoa." Jubileena said once the pair had gotten to Snowanna's old house. The house that would have made even the best of bachelor pads cry out of inferiority had fallen into disrepair. Beside the army of demonic flamingos still standing in the lawn, the house was also covered in toilet paper, and had a letter taped to the door.

"Dear Snowanna, you haven't been around for a while, so I'll let you off easy on this one. There's a bucket of water that will fall on you if you open the door. Go in the window. From, Gloyd." Snowanna read. The snow cone themed girl set about pulling open a window and wriggling her way in. After Snowanna had fit her afro into the house, Jubileena opened the door. Nothing fell.

"Um, Snowanna?" Jubileena called as she walked into the house.

"In a minute, this is pretty hard." Snowanna responded from the window.

"I think you should hear this though." Jubileena said before walking over to her friend.

"Fine, what?" Snowanna said. Jubileena tapped her on the head and motioned toward the door.

"I believe the term is: Punk'd." Jubileena said. Snowanna scowled for a moment before chuckling. After she climbed out and simply walked in, the pair went up to Snowanna's bedroom. A bucket of water fell on Snowanna's head.

"Okay, we're postponing movies until after I've killed that little pumpkin headed narc." Snowanna said. Jubileena was too busy laughing to pay any heed to the threat against Gloyd.

"Lighten up, it could've been worse." Jubileena said.

"How?" Snowanna asked, pulling a box of VHS tapes off of her bookshelf.

"The flamingos could have taken the place over by now." Jubilenna replied, casting a wary eye out the window. Once Snowanna finished laughing her head off, the duo went back to Jubileena's for a movie marathon. Of course, it took a few hours for Jubileena to figure out how to work the old VHS player in her garage, but they eventually watched their movies.


	12. Chapter 12

Crashes are an unfortunate part of racing. Adorabreezle felt this more than ever as she hung, upside down, trapped between her own car and two of her fellow racers'. How Minty Zaki had managed to throw Crumbelina, Adorabreezle, and herself off of the road and into a jumbled heap was a mystery that none of the people involved really wanted solved. From somewhere under her, Adorabreezle heard a muffled noise.

Looking down, the popsicle themed racer saw that her ushanka had fallen onto Crumbelina's face. Considering the fact that Crumbelina's arms were buried under her own seat, the rich racer was having difficulties removing the hat. Adorabreezle swung her arms out to pull the headwear off of her colleague.

"Thank you. Now, how do we get out of this?" Crumbelina asked.

"Well, when Taffyta and I crash into each other, we usually just wait for you and Candlehead to come around." Minty said.

"Wait, how often do you crash?" Adorabreezle asked.

"Well, it's only been a week or so, and I already have a system worked out. That should be a decent indicator." Minty replied.

"Honestly, I believe I am at fault for this one. I'm still getting used to the Luxury." Crumbelina said.

"Nah, you're fine with the car. What you need to work on is having someone else be the avatar." Adorabreezle said.

"Plus, I practically landed on top of you. You really aren't supposed to get used to that." Minty added.

"You're right. This is all your fault." Crumbelina said, rolling her eyes.

"That's the spirit!" Minty cheered, shooting her arm into the air. Unfortunately for her, this resulted in punching the Ice Rocket.

"Hey, watch it." Adorabreezle said.

"Sorry. I guess my car isn't the only thing with poor handling." Minty joked.

"So, how long exactly do you think it will take the others to get here?" Crumbelina asked as she tried to wiggle out of her seat.

"Dunno. We were on, what, the first lap? It'll probably be a while." Minty said.

"Well, isn't that just wonderful?" Crumbelina sighed.

"You're still getting off easy. It's eighty degrees out here and I'm wearing a parka." Adorabreezle pointed out.

"Yeah, why is that again?" Minty asked.

"Because it's my racing outfit." Adorabreezle said.

"It's your only outfit." Crumbelina said.

"You don't know that for sure." Adorabreezle said.

"Oh good gum, here we go." Minty groaned.

"I've been doing some looking around, and I think that it's possible that we have unlockable outfits." Adorabreezle said.

"You think we have unlockable everything." Crumbelina said.

"And I will until you can prove we don't." Adorabreezle said.

"You know, there's a difference between believing something and just blindly following the same thought process for everything." Minty said.

"I'm not blindly following a thought process you jerk. I have evidence." Adorabreezle said.

"That changes things then. What evidence do you have?" Crumbelina asked.

"Well, I was looking around the diet cola volcano after it exploded, and I saw the sky above it." Adorabreezle said.

"What does that have to do with clothes?" Minty asked.

"Everything. You see, there was a piece of the sky that was just empty. There were no clouds or anything." Adorabreezle said.

"Could you see the players?" Crumbelina asked excitedly.

"Um, no. I couldn't see anything at all. That's why I came to a conclusion. You see, Vanellope and I found a spot out in the taffy swamps that's obviously an unlockable track. It was this big empty spot with openings for roads, but no pavement or anything. The empty part of the sky looks like it's just like that, so there must be a track up there. But I asked myself, 'what kind of track could be in the sky?' And do you want to know what I think?" Adorabreezle asked.

"Don't have much else to do." Minty said.

"Well, I think that it's a space, AH!" Adorabreezle screamed as she fell out of her car. She landed with a plop in the cockpit of Crumbelina's limo. Fortunately, Crumbelina herself seemed to not be squished by having a racer fall onto what she was under.

"Ouch! What was that?" Crumbelina asked.

"Nothing, you're hallucinating. On an unrelated note, Adorabreezle fell into your car." Minty said.

"Are you always this sarcastic?" Adorabreezle asked.

"Not really, but you guys are just asking for it." Minty said.

"Whatever. Anyway, I think that the track in the sky is space related." Adorabreezle said.

"How did you get that from a big spot in the sky?" Crumbelina asked as she tried to push herself out from under Adorabreezle.

"Well what else could it be?" Adorabreezle asked.

"A big spot in the sky." Crumbelina said.

"It's a track." Adorabreezle insisted.

"Fine, even if it is a track, why would it be space themed?" Minty asked.

"Because space is cool." Adorabreezle said.

"Well who can argue with that logic?" Minty said.

"Oh shut up. This is a videogame, the programmers would want to fit in as much cool stuff as they can. If they found a way to make one of the tracks take place in outer space, that would be just awesome." Adorabreezle said.

"Yeah, but what if you're wrong?" Crumbelina asked.

"Since the only way I'll know for certain I'm wrong is if a different track is up there, I'll still be okay with it." Adorabreezle said.

"Hey, I think I hear the others coming." Minty said.

"Guys! Are you out here?" Candlehead was shouting.

"Yeah! We're over here!" Minty called back. In a matter of minutes, the other racers were pulling the three trapped girls out of their cars.

"Ah, it's good to stretch my legs again." Minty said.

"At least you didn't have Adorabreezle on top of you." Crumbelina said.

"Well, it's been fun, but I'm gonna head home if you don't mind." Adorabreezle said, walking off.

"Good luck with the space thing!" Minty called after her.

"And pick up some new clothes too!" Crumbelina added. Adorabreezle grinned. Maybe crashing was bad, but it led to some interesting things every now and then.


	13. Chapter 13

There they were, lying under the stars on their little picnic blanket. Taffyta and Crumbelina were gazing up into the stars in peace. And that infuriated Rancis. He was barely thirty feet away and they completely ignored him! They hadn't even said hello when they showed up. It probably wouldn't have bothered Rancis if this kind of thing didn't happen all the time.

None of the other racers, save Swizzle and Gloyd, seemed to like Rancis. Granted, Adorabeezle didn't really like anyone very much and Vanellope didn't do much besides race. Still, the others usually avoided him at all costs. Rancis was convinced that Minty Zaki flat out hated him, which pretty much killed any possibility of even getting near Candlehead. Even Gloyd and Swizzle had been hanging out on their own lately.

Rancis was getting fed up with it all. At this point, he was avoiding everyone else as much as they were avoiding him. Whenever he wasn't racing, he was sneaking away to other games where he could just bum around and nobody cared enough to avoid him. On this particular day though, Rancis needed more than the apathy of others.

Game Central Station was a beautiful place. The hall was made of solid obsidian with jade detailing. Electric currents sailed through the walls, lighting up the building. Rancis walked down the way, going into a very different part of the hall. This section was white with pale grays and light blues. Rancis walked along in silence until he came to the right game and walked in.

The house was smaller than one would think, considering the massive wealth of the owner. It could be summed up with the word quaint, making a stark contrast between it and the rest of suburbia. Rancis walked up the steps and rang the doorbell. It didn't take long for someone to answer.

"Hello? Oh, Rancis, I wasn't expecting you. Come in, I'll cook up some Crème Puffs." The woman said.

"Thanks." Rancis said as he walked in. The small house was filled with items and furniture that bore its owner's face. Rancis and his friend walked into the massive kitchen. It had three ovens, two stoves, even multiple toasters. A cook could feed the planet with these resources. That's what a normal cook would do. This was no normal cook. This was Cooking Mama.

"So, what made you decide to come over?" Mama asked as she began cracking eggs for the crème puffs.

"Oh, you know. Stuff." Rancis said.

"Sure, stuff. Rancis honey, what's really the matter?" Mama asked.

"It's just… you like me right? I'm a likable guy?" Rancis asked.

"Of course I do. Who doesn't like an adorable little winner like you?" Mama said.

"Then why do the other Sugar Rush kids hate me?" Rancis asked.

"They don't hate you. And even if one or two did, they don't all dislike you. What about your friends Gloyd and Swizzle?" Mama asked.

"Well, yeah they like me, but they're just two guys out of ten." Rancis said.

"I doubt they're the only ones who like you." Mama said.

"Candlehead and Jubileena don't count. They're friends with everybody." Rancis said.

"Why would that stop them from 'counting' as your friends?" Mama asked.

"I guess it doesn't, but it's not like we hang out either. Minty doesn't like me and she's always with Candlehead, and Jubileena is… I don't actually know what she does. She just kind of does it." Rancis said.

"Why doesn't this Minty girl like you?" Mama asked as she slid the crème puffs into one of the ovens.

"I don't know. I mean, I don't think I ever did anything to her." Rancis said.

"Maybe it's in her backstory." Mama suggested.

"Maybe. Come to think of it, I don't know her backstory. Or any of the others' for that matter." Rancis said.

"Well, let's hope that's all it is then. It takes a little effort to get over something programmed into your backstory, but it's usually worth it." Mama said.

"Yeah, and then everybody will see how fantastic I am." Rancis said.

"Or vice versa." Mama said.

"Wait, what?" Rancis asked.

"Well, if you don't know what their backstory is, you don't know how fantastic they are either." Mama said.

"I guess. But I'm the best right?" Rancis asked.

"Of course honey. Now, do you want to help me finish baking up those crème puffs?" Mama asked.

"Absolutely!" Rancis said, jumping up to help. His day was getting much better.

**So, that's one chapter for each racer, plus a couple. That marks the end of this... would it be a story arc? I think so. Anyway, the next story arc will start the same way this one did: with a chapter in the real world. After that, I'll put up an as of yet undetermined amount of chapters about the racers dealing with the new arc. Thanks to all of you who have been reading this, you are amazingly encouraging.**


	14. Part 2 Chapter 1

Reports had been coming in for weeks. It was a PR nightmare trying to tackle all of them at once. At first it seemed ridiculous, but by now even the executives had seen the evidence. There was something wrong with the game. That something was so bizarre that it rocked the programmers to their very cores. The games weren't behaving.

Every single game was different. In one, you might have Suzy Sourapple and Taffyta Muttonfudge actively trying to kill each other, and have them be best friends in another. Some of the racers even changed their names and textures. It made the whole game wonderful and horrifying at the same time.

Eventually, a board meeting was called to decide what to do. The most important men and women in the company as well as the most influential programmers and designers were all seated around the large table. The president of Tobicomi stood to begin the meeting.

"Everyone, I hope I can presume you all know why we are holding this meeting. If not, I have some startling information for you. The games are alive. They have evolved past their programming and became something more." He said.

"It's fascinating isn't it? I can't tell you how many physicists want to use our engine to run tests on their theories of alternate dimensions." One of the programmers said.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that our games are malfunctioning. I don't care if it's 'fascinating' it's a glitch. We need to fix it." A woman said.

"You're just a pill aren't you? Look, this is big. We are sitting on the most advanced game in history. We need to market this harder than anything we've ever done before." Someone else said.

"Since mass reports of the 'Life Glitch' have come in, sales have skyrocketed. We don't need to market this, the internet is already doing it for us." One of the younger members said.

"This could ruin our ability to sell toys and other merchandise though. Anything we make might not even look like the racer we're going for. I personally heard of a game where Snowanna Rainbeau was a heavy metal fan with a Mohawk. With deviations like that, it's impossible to correctly sell products." Someone from marketing said.

"Okay, two words: Farmville clone. Give them the characters, let them customize a little, throw in some farming, hit online game." Someone said. He was immediately kicked out of the meeting.

"Hang on, what if we did come at this from online? Not some garbage that will get us sued by Zinga, but an MMO or something." Someone said.

"Or, God forbid, you continue making a racing game." Said a man in a blue suit who just walked in.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" The company's president asked.

"Oh, where are my manners? Bonjour. I do not intend to tell you my name, so you can simply call me "ze man with all the answers." Ze man with all the answers said.

"You know what's going on?" Someone asked.

"Oui. Now, zis is complicated, so I will try to summarize. The game is in fact, alive. Every game ever made is the same. My associates and I are responsible for this. Now that you are aware of it, we expect adequate compensation." Ze man said.

"You want us to pay you?" A woman asked.

"Of course. My associate created a formula to give life to your game characters. After a bit of testing, we were able to perfect it. Your saccharine game was the recipient of his latest design. It was a test run. Suffice to say, it passed with flying colors. Now, you idiots have lucked upon the most revolutionary game since Spore. Do with it what you will, but I can tell you this: I know a certain Bostonian who wants DLC very soon. I suggest you make it. He does some very sporadic and radiation fueled things when he's irritated." Ze man said.

"You tampered with my codes?" The lead programmer yelled.

"And it's your fault that my designs are being manipulated?" The head artist shouted.

"Oh merde, shut up. First of all, it was Conagher, not me, who made the little 'update' we install in your games. Secondly, Mundy was ze one who tampered with your code. Third, the characters are now alive, and can take ze full blame for ruining your designs. In short, I am the messenger, and I will shoot back if I feel ze need." Ze man said.

"Cut to the chase, what do you want?" The president asked.

"I want nine hundred thousand dollars a month. Do not act like you cannot pay, I have evaluated your finances and decided my fee based on them." Ze man said.

"Nine hundred thousand? That's more than I make in a year." One of the programmers said.

"How tragic. Now, here is the address you will send our checks to." Ze man said, handing a folded up piece of paper to the president.

"And what do you advise we do about the life glitch?" Someone asked.

"I told you, it is not a glitch. As such, I expect you to do the same thing everyone else did with their games when someone eventually found out what was going on: nothing. Zis will only affect things by bringing in more people who are curious about the possibilities. Now, I have no more reason to be here, so I will be leaving. And one more thing, this will be the last time you see me." Ze man said as he tampered with his watch. Somehow, he vanished. A sinister (and French sounding) laugh echoed through the room for a few moments.

"Well, I think that about settles things." The president said, standing up.

"How? We don't even know if he was telling the truth." Someone asked.

"Simple, we know to do nothing. I hope you are capable of doing that. Now, if you don't mind, I need to round up a few hundred thousand dollars." The president said as he walked out of the room. There was a dead silence for a few minutes.

"Okay, so are we supposed to make DLC then?" Someone eventually asked.

"I'm thinking a map set in Nevada where you have to push a bomb into an enemy base." A designer said.

"Where exactly did you get that idea?" An executive asked.

"I dunno. It just came to me." The designer said. The idea was shot down soon after when Valve caught wind of it.


	15. Part 2 Chapter 2

_ It took about a week, but the players had finally decided to do it. They were going to play the story levels. Ten of the racers were crowded together behind a cookie hill, watching as Crumbelina got ready to begin. Suddenly, as the level started, someone new walked out to Crumbelina. She was dressed in a shiny brown racing jacket and black jeans with a red bottle cap on her head. Her jet black hair was cut into a bob._

"Um, does anyone know who that is?" Vanellope asked.

"No, and I know everybody." Jubileena said.

"Shush, she's saying something." Taffyta said.

_ "Howdy neighbor." She said in a thick southern drawl._

_ "Um, hello?" Crumbelina said._

_ "Hey, ah just wanted to say that ah hope there ain't no hard feelin's between us." The strange girl said._

"That accent is going to get really irritating really fast isn't it?" Minty asked. The others seemed to agree with her.

_ "I'm sorry, what?" Crumbelina asked._

_ "You know, since ah'm buyin' yer daddy's company. Ah wanted to clear the air." The girl said._

_ "What?" Crumbelina screamed._

_ "Y'all didn't know? Yer daddy's runnin' low on funds, and ah'm rich as chocolate. Figured ah'd help y'all out and buy your business." The girl said._

_ "You can't… I mean, we aren't low on… I would have been told about this!" Crumbelina said._

_ "Looks like you weren't. Tell you what though, y'all look like the racing type. There's a big race comin' up soon with a huge cash reward. If you win, you might be able to buy the old place back." The girl said._

_ "Don't get too attached to my father's company then. Once this race is finished, it will be back in our hands where it belongs." Crumbelina said._

_ "Good luck then. See ya around Ms. Caramello!" The girl said as she walked off._

_ "Yes, you will." Crumbelina said, climbing into her cart, "But first, I'll need to get in a little practice."_

Crumbelina was at the starting line of a track in her yard. It was a relatively simple track, just going around her huge yard and avoiding falling into her pool. Still, Crumbelina looked particularly determined to get through as fast as possible. Once she had finished a few laps, the level ended and the player got ready to do the next one.

"Crumbelina! That was cool. You ready to go to the next level?" Candlehead asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Hey, where's Taffyta?" Crumbelina asked. As she finished asking, the next level started, and Crumbelina vanished from the spot.

"Holy gumballs, it's Armageddon!" Gloyd screamed, running off to… somewhere. The other racers just watched him running away screaming about asteroids and zombies.

"This apocalypse is really lame so far." Jubileena commented.

_"Taffyta, I need to ask you something." Crumbelina said, walking into the strawberry racer's house._

_ "Ask away." Taffyta said._

_ "You know people, and I need information on someone." Crumbelina said._

_ "Okay." Taffyta said._

_ "She's got black hair, wears a brown jacket, jeans" Crumbelina said before being cut off._

_ "Look, do you want to keep playing this little twenty questions deal, or do you want to tell me who it is?" Taffyta asked._

_ "Sorry. I don't know who she is though. She just kind of showed up." Crumbelina said._

_ "Any idea what her candy is?" Taffyta asked._

_ "She's got a bottle cap on her head." Crumbelina said._

_ "Alright, that does narrow it down. Tell me, did she have a southern accent?" Taffyta asked._

_ "Yeah." Crumbelina said._

_ "Her name's Clara Cola. She's some heiress from a soda mining operation." Taffyta said._

_ "What are her weaknesses?" Crumbelina asked._

_ "What? Her… oh geeze, what did she do?" Taffyta asked._

_ "She's buying my dad's company." Crumbelina said._

_ "Oh… that's… that's bad." Taffyta said._

_ "No really? I had no idea." Crumbelina snarked._

_ "Oh shut up. How are you gonna fix it?" Taffyta asked._

_ "I'm gonna win that big race that's coming up." Crumbelina said._

_ "The one that Clara has won for the past three years undefeated?" Taffyta asked._

_ "See, that would have been good to know when I asked for information." Crumbelina said._

_ "I guess. First though, you need to do some training, and I know just the guy to help." Taffyta said._

"Sheesh, long cutscene this time around." Crumbelina groaned as the two racers drove to the next part of the level.

"Tell me about it. On the other hand, I find it more worrisome that we have to drive this time, when we were teleported last time." Taffyta said.

"Eh, I'm sure we'll figure it out." Crumbelina said. They had arrived at their destination. It was a junkyard, filled with torn apart old cars and puddles of melted chocolate.

_"So, who are we meeting here?" Crumbelina asked, walking into the junkyard."_

_ "You'll see. He usually hangs around here somewhere." Taffyta said. As she moved an old tire, someone popped up from behind it._

_ "Hey! What are you… oh, it's you." He said with contempt. He was a dirty looking kid in worn-out overalls and a tan shirt._

_ "Good to see you too. Crumbelina, this is Nilla Wafelog, the best mechanic ever to tighten a screw." Taffyta said._

_ "Nice to meet you." Crumbelina said._

_ "You're Crumbelina? Taffyta was right, you are gorgeous." Nilla said, shaking Crumbelina's hand._

_ "Oh really?" Crumbelina asked, looking over to her friend._

_ "Ahem, no time for that. Nilla, we need to use your yard to test Crumbelina for the big race coming up." Taffyta said._

_ "Me casa es su casa I guess." Nilla said, walking off._

_ "So, you think I'm gorgeous?" Crumbelina teased as she walked to her car._

_ "Don't flatter yourself, that's just what Nilla understood from my talking about you." Taffyta said._

_ "But you do talk about me?" Crumbelina asked._

_ "Don't you have driving to do?" Taffyta asked, speeding off in her own car._

Crumbelina drove through the track with ease, the Luxury handling every turn perfectly. Granted, the excessive amount of potholes was a bit deterring, but Crumbelina still succeeded. After she finished that level, the player apparently decided to finish for the day. Crumbelina and Taffyta drove back to their houses, hoping the others didn't misunderstand what happened when the two of them were yanked away to the level.

"So, you have your own mechanic?" Crumbelina asked.

"I do now. These story levels are weird. It's like there's a whole world out there we don't even know exists." Taffyta said.

"Oh, believe me, I know a lot about not knowing things." Crumbelina said.

"You said it, not me." Taffyta teased.

"You know what I was talking about." Crumbelina said.

"No, but I'm afraid you're about to tell me." Taffyta said.

"I mean the fact that you apparently talk about me with the mechanic you retroactively have." Crumbelina said.

"About that, I uh… you see, the thing about that is…" Taffyta trailed off. Just then, Jubileena came running across the road singing.

"It's the end of the world as we know it. Yes it's the end of the world as we know it! Yeah it's the end of the world as we know it, and we know that it is small. Oh, hey you guys, enjoying the end of the world?" Jubileena said.

"What are you talking about?" Taffyta asked.

"Well, you two disappeared, and Gloyd started screaming, and he was all like 'oh my gosh, we're gonna die!' and Candlehead was all like 'should we look for them?' and Vanellope was all like 'no, I want to watch Gloyd spaz out' and I was all like 'I want to sing now' so I started singing." Jubileena said.

"Gloyd is spazzing?" Taffyta asked.

"That's awful." Crumbelina said.

"By awful, you mean we should tape it right?" Taffyta asked.

"Snowanna already did it, but she uses VHS, so I'm not sure anyone besides her will actually be able to watch it later." Jubileena said.

"Huh. Oh well." Taffyta said.

"Do neither of you care that we cause one of our friends to think he was going to die?" Crumbelina asked.

"No, not really." Taffyta said.

"I already tried to tell him that the apocalypse would be cooler, but he won't listen." Jubileena said.

"See? We should just head home?" Taffyta said.

"You're cruel sometimes Taffyta." Crumbelina said as she began driving again.

"Only to people who are sadistic idiots." Taffyta replied. Crumbelina seemed to pause for a moment.

"Yeah, we should just go home." She said before taking off down the road.

"I thought so." Taffyta said with a smirk as she sped after her friend.

"Um, guys? I walked here. I don't have a ride back. Guys?" Jubileena called. The only response she got was the dull roar of two engines speeding away. It was going to be a long night.


	16. Part 2 Chapter 3

_ "I'm gonna do it. I'm finally gonna do it." Rancis said, walking out of Swizzle's house._

_ "Come on Rancis, don't do this to yourself. You know this isn't going to end well." Gloyd said, following his friend._

_ "Gloyd, Gloyd, Gloyd. Poor deluded Gloyd. This is going to end wonderfully." Rancis said._

_ "But she doesn't like you. Or me for that matter. In fact, I'm pretty sure most of the girls flat-out hate the two of us." Gloyd said._

_ "Thanks for the boost to my morale Citrus-Swine." Rancis groaned._

_ "Those insults still don't make sense." Gloyd said._

_ "Yes, they do. You just want me to stop saying them because you're insecure!" Rancis shouted._

_ "You little Wipplesnit, I'll kill you!" Gloyd said, jumping at Rancis. Swizzle pulled him back._

_ "Come on guys, do you really need to argue like this?" He asked._

_ "I don't know, do we Gloyd?" Rancis asked._

_ "You're setting yourself up to fail." Gloyd scowled._

_ "Take it to the racetrack why don't you?" Swizzle said._

_ "You know what? That idea isn't half bad. I propose a challenge. We duke it out in a series of races. If I win, you put off this ridiculous plan until we think you actually have a chance. If you win, you let Taffyta tear your heart out and throw it in your face." Gloyd said._

_ "That's not gonna happen." Rancis said adamantly._

_ "Do we have a deal or not?" Gloyd asked._

_ "We do. Swizz, you up for some work as a referee?" Rancis asked._

_ "If it stops you two from killing each other, I'm up for anything." Swizzle said._

_ "Great. See you on the racetrack." Gloyd said, stomping over to his car._

_ "See you then Lemon-Hog." Rancis taunted._

_ "Alright, race number one." Swizzle said. He was standing in between his two friends' cars in an open field. There was a set of flags set up throughout the field._

_ "Number one? As in there will be more?" Rancis asked._

_ "I'm sorry, you're right. Let's just decide whether or not you ask out Taffyta with a little circle around the track. Maybe, instead of a race, we should just have you two play rock paper scissors." Swizzle said._

_ "Okay, sheesh. What's the objective?" Rancis asked._

_ "I shared the course with your GPS. All you have to do is beat Gloyd through the track for three laps and you win." Swizzle said. With that, he held up a stopwatch imbedded into an M&M shell._

_ "3!" He shouted. Gloyd and Rancis revved their engines._

_ "2!" The two racers pulled up their GPS. Their route was set._

_ "1!" "See you at the finish line Rancid." Gloyd taunted._

_ "Was that really necessary?" Swizzle asked._

_ "Say go!" The other boys shouted simultaneously._

_ "Ah, alright. GO!" The racers were off._

He was in the zone. It was his level, he was gonna win. He shot toward the first flag, making a perfect turn around it before jetting over to the next. Gloyd was close behind, but Rancis wasn't worried. After all, he was a hero trying to get the girl. What could go wrong?

Rancis pulled around the eight flag now, and Gloyd was practically right next to him. Rancis floored it, but Gloyd mirrored this. The two crossed the hastily made finish line within milliseconds of each other, and pulled their turns to go through the course again. Unfortunately for Rancis, Gloyd decided to use his special power right there. As Rancis accelerated toward the first flag, he heard several loud pops as his tires were hit with Candy Corn Caltrops. Cursing under his breath, Rancis accelerated again. This time, he was far more successful. He went right around the flag, nearly knocking the thing off its pole. It was time to get serious.

In mere moments, Gloyd and Rancis were both on their last lap. Rancis zoomed ahead of Gloyd for a momentary lead. Fortunately, that was all he needed. Rancis flipped a switch on the Kit Kart and sent his Fluggerbutter oil right into Gloyd's face. The pumpkin headed racer swerved out of control, colliding with Rancis. The two spun along the track, eventually stopping a few yards from the finish line. The boys exchanged a quick glance before jumping out of their cars and sprinting toward the finish line. With a slide that would make any baseball player jealous, Rancis crossed the finish line just before his opponent.

_"Well, that was… okay, I'm not gonna lie to you guys, you're insane." Swizzle said._

_ "Yes, but I'm an insane winner. So, Juice-Hog, looks like I'm heading for Taffyta's after all." Rancis said, brushing dust off of his jacket._

_ "Heh heh, no. That was only the first race, remember? Now I have to think of another one though. Alright, I'll call you guys when I have something set up." Swizzle said before running off._

_ "Looks like I still have a chance to prove what a terrible idea this is." Gloyd said._

_ "In your dreams Fruit-Pig. I'm the greatest racer ever. Beating you will be a walk in the park." Rancis said._

_ "Speaking of walking, I think my engine's shot. Wanna help me push the Kernel back to my garage?" Gloyd asked._

_ "Eh, why not?" Rancis said, "One thing though, how are we gonna get my car back if I'm helping you?"_

_ "We can always come back for it." Gloyd shrugged._

_ Accepting that as a decent answer, Rancis walked over to his friend's car and started pushing._

"So, story levels are interesting huh?" Gloyd said as he checked the gearshift to make sure the car was in neutral.

"Yeah. I kind of wish that there were some new NPCs in mine though. Crumbelina got two." Rancis said.

"Yeah, but why crowd the screen with meh when you can fill it with our awesomeness?" Gloyd asked.

"True, true. On the other hand, it would be cool to have some guys around besides you me and Swizz." Rancis said.

"What about Taffyta's mechanic?" Gloyd asked. They had finally gotten the Kernel across the finish line. Now all they had to do was push it to the road.

"He literally lives in the dump. You might have noticed, that isn't exactly my scene." Rancis said.

"I guess. Still, you hang out with me, and I'm not usually around your 'scene.'" Gloyd said.

"I swear Gloyd, if you're trying to push a moral about friendship on me, I'll ditch you and your car here and now." Rancis said.

"I'm just saying, don't knock it 'til you've tried it." Gloyd said.

"That's about food not people." Rancis scoffed.

"I think it's more of a general idea." Gloyd said.

"Hey, you know what's fun? Not debating what phrases are directed toward." Rancis said.

"Alright, alright. So, do you actually like Taffyta or is that just the storyline making stuff up?" Gloyd asked.

"Of course I like Taffyta. She's beautiful, and funny, and smart, and she races like a boss." Rancis said.

"Uh huh. Tell me, have you ever had a real conversation with Taffyta?" Gloyd asked.

"Well, I mean… define 'real conversation.'" Rancis said.

"So that's a no. This is why I keep telling you this is a bad idea. You're trying to rush things when you should just take your time and get to know her." Gloyd said.

"Oh, because you're an expert mister I've never had a date in my life or tried to get one." Rancis said.

"And yet, I would have a better chance than you." Gloyd said.

"Whatever you say seed head." Rancis said.

"See! That's a logical insult. Seeds, pumpkins, it makes sense. Juice-Hog doesn't." Gloyd said.

"You realize that insults are supposed to irritate you right? That's why I always use the ones that you openly hate." Rancis pointed out.

"Fine, whatever, it just makes you sound like an idiot." Gloyd said.

"Real nice. How far away do you live?" Rancis asked.

"About a mile." Gloyd said. They had only gone about fifty feet up the road.

"We're going to be here all day aren't we?" Rancis asked.

"Probably." Gloyd said. Unfortunately for the two boys, they were right.


End file.
